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Big Doughnut, Randy's Donuts

Randy's Donuts is a 24-hour doughnut shop a few miles north of LAX Airport off the 405. Trees and brush obscure the freeway view. The freeway came after the Big Donut Drive-in chain opened in 1953.

Once up the exit ramp and on the cross-street, the 22-foot diameter snack appears poised to roll off an otherwise uninspired drive-thru store. Randy's is a destination with Hollywood star status.

The giant doughnut appears over and over as a movie location or in obliquely angled atmospheric LA montages. It rolls down boulevards in animated cartoons and disaster movies. Randy's was a conspicuous news backdrop in 2012 -- and later in a Toyota Superbowl commercial -- when the retired Space Shuttle Endeavor was slowly towed by, heading to its new home in LA.